Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Luke Pasqualino, Santiago Cabrera, Tom Burke, Howard Charles, Ashley Walters, Anton Lesser, Peter Capaldi, Ryan Gage, Hugo Speer, Matt Slack, Michael Cochrane, Helen Cotterill, Fiona Glascott, Brian Pettifer, Vaclav Chalupa, Christophe Gilland, Michael Jenn.
Where do the good come from? Those that change the lives of all for the better! This is the question lurking at the back of the latest episode of B.B.C.’s smash Sunday night 16th century historical romp The Musketeers.
Even with a week taken out of the schedule due to the type of award ceremony that really doesn’t mean anything to the vast majority of people being placed in the prime time slot, The Musketeers lost none of its pace and excitement and the latest episode was a real thrill for anyone who liked to see how a character has developed throughout their lifetime.
The difference between Porthos, a man who grew up in the den of iniquity that was the slum region known as the Court of Miracles, surrounded by thieves and desperados and Emile de Mauvisin, a self-serving aristocrat who has taken a darker route in his life is startling. One wanted to better himself, the other descended into the very butchery that was run by Charon, a very convincing Ashley Walters. Between them stands the Musketeers and the Cardinal. Each it seems with their own part to play in the mystery of Porthos’s alleged crime of murder.
This was a moment in which Howard Charles as Porthos shined. He may have taken some criticism on behalf of the makers of the programme by having Porthos portrayed by someone of an ethnic background but that is what has made this version of The Musketeers so eminently enjoyable, a real treat compared to previous servings. It is a version of the story that has long been coming; it is just a shame that viewers have had to sit through some rather awful incarnations before coming to this. The difference between Howard Charles’ Porthos and the ever superb Anton Lesser as Monsieur de Mauvisin was palpable and captured the imagery of King Louis’ France perfectly.
The Musketeers continues to be one of the very few reasons in which a Sunday night in might be an option.
The Musketeers continues on Sunday.
Ian D. Hall